Tyranny: Bound By Fate
by WaterfallMan
Summary: Two young Fatebinders find themselves struggling to reconcile the will of Tunon's Court against their personal Morals. Their ability to manipulate the law and find loopholes will be put to the ultimate test when the pair find themselves headed for Vendrien's Wall, Edict in hand.


p class="MsoNormal"By night, the settlement of Lethian's Crossing was quiet, lethargic./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Akerai, Fatebinder in service to Archon Tunon, surveyed the settlement from the trees. He had been sent to verify rumors of an illegal refugee shelter in the area and bring them to justice./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Are you ready?" Fatebinder Krisi, his oldest friend, spoke from behind him. Checking his bracers were strapped tightly to his wrists./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah." Akerai nodded, and together they approached the building on the edge of the settlement./p  
p class="MsoNormal"From the hut they heard faint talking. Nodding to Krisi, Akerai positioned himself by the / Krisi burst into the room, Akerai followed behind him. There were people on the floors, sitting or lying down, some held children, others held food. His eyes landed upon the woman standing, attending to someone nursing a wound./p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Shit./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Of all the people guilty of harbouring refugees from the conquered tiers, it just had to be Elea. Admittedly he couldn't fault her for doing so, even when they had been children she had been defiant and impulsive. br / He heard Krisi breathe in sharply, Akerai knew his friend held feelings for her. He had prodded his oldest friend to court his second oldest friend on multiple occasions to no avail. This complicated things however, as a loyal Fatebinder, Krisi was obliged to bring her to justice for harbouring refugees./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Elea's eyes were guarded, she straightened up and glared at Krisi, then at / "Can I help you, Governor?" Elea said, her voice / Krisi cleared his throat and spoke, br / "We have come representing the will of Tunon's court. We seek to bring those in Lethian's Crossing that seek to harbor refugees to justice."br / His eyes softened, / "This refugee shelter violates Kyros' Laws, I must write to Tunon and inform him-"br / Akerai / "Inform him that we were unable to find any refugees in Lethian's Crossing." br / Krisi stared at him, / "Kera," he said, forgetting formality and using his nickname,br / span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"You can see for yourself, these people-"br / "Are citizens of Lethian's Crossing." Akerai said, looking Krisi in the eyes. "As such, they are protected by Kyros' peace and obviously cannot be refugees." br / Understanding flooded Krisi's eyes, br / "Of course, I will send a missive immediately." He said. As he left the room, he looked at Akerai, his eyes grateful./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Elea, I need to talk to you." Akerai said, beckoning her to follow him outside. As they too left the room, he heard the refugees mutter. br / "Why did that Fatebinder lie like that?"br / "Haven't you heard Old Man Paradosi tell stories about Lady Elea's friends? Who were taken by the Disfavored to Tunon's Court?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Outside, behind the building, Elea broke her guarded stance. Lunging forward, she hugged Akerai tightly./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Alright, alright" he chuckled softly, "I missed you too."br / "Thank you." She said, "For saving us, all of us." br / "You should be more careful." He chided, his smile fading slightly, "What were you thinking? Harbouring refugees? You had to know that Tunon would hear about this, you don't know how lucky you are that we were called here instead of Calio or one of the other Fatebinders."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Elea was silent, Akerai / "I know you had the best intentions, you always did." He squeezed Elea's shoulders reassuringly. "The best intentions just don't survive well out here…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Krisi returned, fidgeting his hands / "Did you send the missive?" Akerai quirked a / "Yes. As luck would have it Tunon had sent a messenger bird to us, I included my… report in the reply."br / "Thank you. Kirsi." Elea smiled warmly, Kirsi blushed and looked away, coughing awkwardly./p  
p class="MsoNormal""What did Tunon say?" Akerai / "Ah yes, We are to return to the Bastard City and report in, after which we'll head to Vendrien's Well for another mission."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Akerai nodded and turned to Elea. br / "We have to go." He said./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Elea nodded and hugged him quickly. Turning to Kirsi, she hugged him as well, though she lingered for a second / "Be safe, and take care of Akerai." She said, squeezing Kirsi's / "I will." Kirsi said, trying and failing to suppress the blush creeping in./p  
p class="MsoNormal"As they left Lethian's Crossing, returning to the main road back to the Bastard Tier. Kirsi turned to / "That was a risky move," Kirsi said, "What if Tunon finds out?"br / "Find out what?" Akerai shrugged, "It's not like the people in Lethian's Crossing are going to give Elea up, as long as they tell anyone that comes by that they're citizens no one will be any the wiser"br / "I still think it's too risky," Kirsi sighed, "but… thank you, for making it so I did not have to arrest Elea… I…" he seemed at a loss for / "Honestly, Ki." He chuckled, "When are you going to ask her out? She won't wait forever you know... Well, given the way she looks at you, perhaps she just might."br / "It's not that simple, Kera." Kirsi sighed, "We are Fatebinders, as such we represent Tunon and the will of Kyros. We can't court common folk, even if we came from them." br / They continued in silence for a time, then Akerai spoke / "Just ask her out, What do you have to lose? As long as you don't go around announcing you're a Fatebinder no one will pay attention to it."br / "I will if you ask Calio out, I've seen the way you to talk to each other."br / "If it means my two friends will finally get together, by all means." Akerai / The two men's laughter lit up the road ahead, even in the dead of night./p 


End file.
